In general, there are usually tradeoffs people must make in their academic career path. Unless you are a trust fund kid... the path will become obvious.
1. Take the co-op work terms route, and see your GPA drop 15% to 25%. Yet the 2 terms usually equate to >1 year experience in the field for most HR offices. Yes, the co-op workers will fill the entry level positions first, as those workers are now very inexpensive institutional roles. Also, kids under 28 come with tax credits in many jurisdictions, so the work force churn is high in those firms.
2. Try to enter a graduate program, and discover academic institutions only want kids that qualify for federal funding. Thus, even if you met all the secret credit requirements that differ from your undergraduate degree.... if your GPA is below A- most faculties will just pocket application fees and quietly chuckle at the optimism. See #1 for the choice you already made.
3. Business requirements differ from expected preferences. A few months after people graduate their loans convert into actual debt. This means whatever dreams they have of running off into the sunset are replaced with the brutal desperation of 90k other new graduates with identical skill sets in the wrong area.
i. However, every business has their own internal technology stack, and its often very different from academic programs. No it will not be what people expect unless you knew people that work in the place, and for example almost half of new google hires simply leave the CS hazing within a few months. Engineering firms also want to see a Professional registered seal (or you are still a normy), or the compensation package will start ridiculously low.
ii. People like to see a portfolio with successful artifacts. If your background is some startup that tanked within a few years, it is less meaningful than a year in a FAANG position.
iii. If you rely on online staffing agencies and Ad posts, than expect to compete with the entire planet.
4. Yes it is hard to find a position in an industry wide contraction, and most entry level positions are often a compromise. The automated LLM messaging/screeners waste a lot of peoples time, as both applicants and screeners get flooded with nonsense.
5. If people try to tell hiring firms how they should run their business, than one may expect to get ignored. It is a indicator they are going to be a problem even in training, and a liability later on.
6. Some people are still fantasizing firms will still function with LLM and outsourced labor. These are not places you will want to work at anyway, as sooner or later competition will destroy a cost-optimized development firm.
The negative karma just indicates people aren't interested in discussing this emotional subject.
Best of luck =3
Rule #6: Perspective is earned, and cannot be given freely.
What seems reasonable or lucrative to the naive is not necessarily worth the legal encumbrances or investment risks.